EPA for State and Local Governments

General Resources for State and Local Governments

State-specific regulatory information: learn about plans, programs, and designations developed by your state or locality as required by federal regulations (e.g., your state's implementation plan under the Clean Air Act); find links to state-level laws, regulations, and administrative agencies.

Local Government Advisory Committee - The LGAC provides advice and recommendations that assist the EPA in developing a stronger partnership with local governments through building State and local capacity to deliver environmental services and programs.

Rad Net - Tracking Environmental Radiation Nationwide: RadNet is a national network of monitoring stations that regularly collect air, precipitation, drinking water, and milk samples for analysis of radioactivity. The RadNet network, which has stations in each state, has been used to track environmental releases of radioactivity from nuclear weapons tests and nuclear accidents.

Climate Change

Climate Leaders: Climate Leaders is an EPA industry-government partnership that works with companies to develop comprehensive climate change strategies. Partner companies commit to reducing their impact on the global environment by completing a corporate-wide inventory of their greenhouse gas emissions based on a quality management system, setting aggressive reduction goals, and annually reporting their progress to EPA.

Climate Ready Estuaries: The Climate Ready Estuaries website offers information on climate change impacts to different estuary regions, access to tools and resources to monitor changes, and information to help managers develop adaptation plans for estuaries and coastal communities.

Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Tools and Resources for States and Local Governments: A variety of tools, guidance and information resources are available to help state and local governments inventory their greenhouse gas emissions, analyze greenhouse gas emissions reduction opportunities and quantify the energy, environmental and economic benefits of lowering greenhouse gases. This compilation includes tools provided by EPA as well as other government agencies and nonprofit organizations.

Heat Islands: This Web site provides information on the heat island effect, its impacts, and the strategies that communities can take to reduce urban temperatures. Of the information available to communities, EPA’s Heat Island Reduction Program offers a compendium of mitigation strategies, a community action database, and regularly scheduled webcasts.

Methane reduction partnerships: U.S. industries along with state and local governments collaborate with EPA to implement several voluntary programs that promote profitable opportunities for reducing emissions of methane, an important greenhouse gas.

AgSTAR: encourages the use of methane recovery (biogas) technologies at the confined animal feeding operations that manage manure as liquids or slurries.

Coalbed Methane Outreach Program (CMOP): By working cooperatively with coal companies and related industries, CMOP helps to address barriers to using CMM instead of emitting it to the atmosphere.

State and Local Climate and Energy Program:
This program provides technical assistance, peer exchange opportunities, analytical tools, and outreach support to state, local, and tribal governments. Using these resources, state and local governments can develop policies and programs that can reduce greenhouse gas emissions, lower energy costs, improve air quality and public health, and help achieve economic development goals.

State Climate and Energy Program: Provides states with and advises them on proven, cost–effective best practices, peer exchange opportunities, and analytical tools. Resources include: best practice guidance, state policy maps, monthly policy webcasts, tools, and a listserv.

Complying With and Enforcing Environmental Laws

EPA and state governments working together on compliance and enforcement. EPA works closely with the states to implement federal environmental programs. States authorized to manage federal programs must have enforcement authorities that are at least as stringent as federal law. EPA works with officials in state environmental, health and agricultural agencies on strategic planning, priority-setting and measurement of results.

Local government organizations must comply with federal drinking water, storm water, waste water and solid waste regulations. Learn more about how to comply.

Emergency Management

Local Governments Reimbursement Program. In the event of a release (or threatened release) of hazardous substances, EPA may reimburse local governments for expenses related to the release and associated emergency response measures. The Local Governments Reimbursement (LGR) Program provides a "safety net" of up to $25,000 per incident to local governments that do not have funds available to pay for response actions. Learn whether you are eligible, what the requirements for reimbursement are, and how to apply for reimbursement.

Energy Efficiency and Resource Conservation

Combined Heat and Power Partnership: The CHP Partnership is a voluntary program seeking to reduce the environmental impact of power generation by promoting the use of combined heat and power (CHP), an efficient, clean, and reliable approach to generating power and thermal energy from a single fuel source.

Energy Star for Government: Provides local and state governments, as well as federal agencies, a proven energy management strategy and no-cost tools to save energy and money and demonstrate their environmental leadership.

Green power - The Green Power Partnership is a voluntary program that encourages state governments and other organizations to buy green power as a way to reduce the environmental impacts associated with purchased electricity use.

Smart Growth - The EPA smart growth program conducts research; publishes reports and other publications; showcases outstanding communities; works with communities through grants and technical assistance; and brings together diverse interests to encourage better growth and development.

State and Local Climate and Energy Program:
This program provides technical assistance, peer exchange opportunities, analytical tools, and outreach support to state, local, and tribal governments. Using these resources, state and local governments can develop policies and programs that can reduce greenhouse gas emissions, lower energy costs, improve air quality and public health, and help achieve economic development goals.

State Climate and Energy Program: Provides states with and advises them on proven, cost–effective best practices, peer exchange opportunities, and analytical tools. Resources include: best practice guidance, state policy maps, monthly policy webcasts, tools, and a listserv.

State Utility Regulation and Clean Energy: EPA provides a number of best practices and policy option resources to state utility regulators who want to explore greater use of clean energy for its economic and environmental benefits.

Water efficiency: EPA's WaterSense partnership makes it easy for Americans to save water and protect the environment. Consumers can look for the WaterSense label to choose quality, water-efficient products. WaterSense also provides resources for promotional partners, like utilities, state and local governments, who want to establish water efficiency measures. Through water conservation, state and local governments can reduce water and wastewater infrastructure costs while protecting vital resources for future generation.

Financing Environmental Systems; Grants

The Community Action for a Renewed Environment (CARE) program offers grants to fund innovative ways for local governments to create collaborative partnerships to reduce toxic pollution in their local environment, and to minimize people's exposure to toxic pollutants.

Environmental Finance Center Network: Environmental goals cannot be met without financing, which is essential to implementing state and local programs. Knowledge about how to fund these programs is often limited, especially at the local level. EPA sponsors Environmental Finance Centers (EFCs) at universities around the nation. They provide state and local officials and small businesses with advisory services; education, publications, and training; technical assistance; and analyses on financing alternatives.

Performance Partnership Grants (PPGs): With PPGs, states (and tribes) can reduce administrative costs through streamlined paperwork and accounting procedures; direct EPA grant funds to priority environmental problems or program needs; and try multi-media approaches and initiatives that were difficult to fund under traditional categorical grants.

Pollution prevention (P2) grants: This Web site provides information on matching funds to state and tribal programs to support P2 activities across all environmental media and to develop state P2 programs.

Disaster
Debris: Plan ahead for potential large volumes and high costs of debris
and waste after a storm. Typical methods of recycling or solid waste disposal
in sanitary landfills often cannot be applied to disaster debris because
of the large volume of waste, and burning prohibitions.

Community-Based Water Resiliency: Communities can plan ahead to reduce risks to water infrastructure from natural disasters or security threats. The CBWR Electronic Tool can be downloaded for free and gives community groups a wide variety of tools to help with planning and assessing local water resiliency efforts.

Performance and Accountability

National Program Managers (NPM) guidance documents are issued from EPA's five major national programs (Air and Radiation; Water; Solid Waste and Emergency Response; Prevention, Pesticides and Toxic Substances; and Enforcement and Compliance Assurance) and provide EPA Regional offices, states and tribes with guidance on specific priorities and implementation strategies for the coming year.

Pesticides

Aquatic life benchmarks are estimates of the concentrations below which pesticides are not expected to have the potential for adverse effects on aquatic life. States can use these benchmarks to help them target water monitoring studies and to increase the efficiency of regulatory processes for protecting aquatic environments.

Reducing Pollution and Toxics

Community Action for a Renewed Environment (CARE) offers an innovative way for communities to organize and take action to reduce toxic pollution in their local environment and create a partnership that implements solutions to reduce releases of toxic pollutants and minimize people's exposure to them.

Lead Renovation, Repair and Painting Rule: This March 2008 rule aimed at protecting children from lead-based paint hazards requires contractors and construction professionals that work in pre-1978 housing or child-occupied facilities to follow lead-safe work practice standards. States, tribes, and territories may begin to apply for authorization to implement the program anytime after June 2008.

Pollution prevention and toxics community assistance: Community and business managers, teachers, and parents can take action to reduce pollution and toxics in their communities. This Web site provides information and tools to help you understand and assess environmental data and protect your community's environment.

Pollution prevention (P2) grants: This Web site provides information on matching funds to state and tribal programs to support P2 activities across all environmental media and to develop state P2 programs.

Regulations and Reporting

State-Specific Regulatory Information This section of the Laws, Regulations, Guidance, and Dockets site allows you to access plans, programs, and designations developed by your state, district, commonwealth, or territory as required by federal regulations (e.g., your state's implementation plan under the Clean Air Act). It also provides links to state-level laws, regulations, and administrative agencies.

The Regulatory Flexibility Act (RFA), as amended by Small Business Regulatory Enforcement Fairness Act (SBREFA), provides small entities with an expanded opportunity to participate in the development of certain regulations. The RFA/SBREFA defines "small governmental jurisdiction" as the government of a city, county, town, school district or special district with a population of less than 50,000. EPA has an ongoing commitment to minimize the burden of our regulations on small entities to the extent we can while still meeting our statutory requirements.

State and local transportation resources/conformity: This Web site provides useful information, tools, and links to resources that identify emission reduction strategies, national policies, regulations, incentive-based programs, funding sources, calculators, and other types of assistance to help states and local areas achieve their air quality and transportation objectives.

Water

Assessments of water quality:

The National Assessment Database provides a summary of state-reported water quality information and allows the visitor to view assessments of individual water bodies. The database acts as a quick reference for water quality professionals and those familiar with water quality reporting.

Aquatic life benchmarks are estimates of the concentrations below which pesticides are not expected to have the potential for adverse effects on aquatic life. States can use these benchmarks to help them target water monitoring studies and to increase the efficiency of regulatory processes for protecting aquatic environments.

Climate Ready Estuaries: The Climate Ready Estuaries Web site offers information on climate change impacts to different estuary regions, access to tools and resources to monitor changes, and information to help managers develop adaptation plans for estuaries and coastal communities.

Polluted runoff (nonpoint source pollution, or NPS):

The NPS Outreach Toolbox is intended for use by state and local agencies and other organizations interested in educating the public on nonpoint source pollution or storm water runoff. The Toolbox contains a variety of resources to help develop an effective and targeted outreach campaign.

Water efficiency: EPA's WaterSense partnership makes it easy for Americans to save water and protect the environment. Consumers can look for the WaterSense label to choose quality, water-efficient products. WaterSense also provides resources for promotional partners, like utilities, state and local governments, who want to establish water efficiency measures. Through water conservation, state and local governments can reduce water and wastewater infrastructure costs while protecting vital resources for future generation.

The Mississippi River Gulf of Mexico Watershed Nutrient Task Force provides executive level direction and support for coordinating the actions of participating organizations working on nutrient management within the Mississippi River/Gulf of Mexico Watershed.